In this article, HTANI committee member, Dr Alan McCully, discusses his work with the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe.
The Observatory on History Teaching in Europe (OHTE) is an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe. Its mission is to promote quality education to enhance the understanding of democratic culture. The observatory has eighteen member countries and two observer states. Ireland is a full member state but the United Kingdom has chosen to remain outside the Observatory.
At an individual level HTANI is represented on the Observatory’s Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) by Dr Alan McCully. The SAC consists of respected experts in the field of history, including historians, teacher educators and teachers of history. The SAC ensures the academic, scholarly, and methodological quality of the observatory’s work. Based on reliable data the observatory seeks to provide a clear picture of the state of history teaching and how it is taught in its member states.
Findings are reported through its general and thematic reports. To date there has been two thematic reports, the first on the teaching of Pandemics and Natural Disasters (published in 2024) and the second on the teaching of Economic Crises (to be published in 2025). At its annual conference in Strasbourg in December the OHTE launched its first General Report on the state of History Teaching in Europe 2023.
The General Report on the state of History Teaching in Europe 2023 conclusions in brief
- All countries, bar Armenia, teach history across the age range though there is considerable variation between standalone and multidisciplinary delivery. In the majority of countries civil society actors have some influence on state provision.
- Textbooks, teacher prepared materials, websites and databases are the chief resources used by teachers (usually with the approval of the education authorites) with the use of primary sources of evidence deemed a vital component of teaching and learning. However, there was concern expressed that resources lacked CPD support and, consequently, the potential to contribute to developing multiperspectivity, critical thinking and insights into minority groups was diminished.
- Economic and social and political and military history were deemed most relevant to students, with gender history given least priority. In their responses teachers valued active learning approaches rather than didactic methods but this was not always reflected in their practice. If assessment focused primarily on knowledge retrieval then this was influential in the way teachers taught.
- While most secondary history teachers have an academic degree in history and a masters in education, those teaching history at primary level were considerably less formally prepared. Teachers were clear that they wanted further training in the use of ICT, innovative resources, active teaching approaches and historical thinking competencies but that current training (or lack of it) in many countries did not always meet their needs.
To read the full report go to the General Report on the state of History Teaching in Europe 2023